Millions of people across the world are surviving with pacemakers and defibrillators. Thanks to the advancement of medical science. But, the question arises on what happens to these devices after their owners’ demise?
The answer is simply that most of these deices get buried with their owners. But, being non-biodegradable, they add on to the burden of the environment. Besides this, once buried with a person they may lead to explosion!
Why not then put it to better use, besides relieving the environment of these toxic landfills? They could be put to better use by recycling! Researchers opined this at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago.
Questioning 100 morticians and 150 heart patients about what they would want done with the pacemaker or defibrillator after death, they said:-
* 82 percent of the patients said — they would be willing to have the device analyzed non-invasively
* 79 percent said — they would be willing to have it removed upon their death and returned to the manufacturer
* 72 percent said – they were willing to sign a “device living will.”
